2016 Toyota Corolla

Typical pattern

10.6% of complaints about the 2016 Toyota Corolla came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2016 vehicle — around the middle of the 199 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 3.5 yr in service. The most-reported system is air bags (64 complaints), typically at 4.3 yr or about 35,000 miles.

Complaints: 310
Median age at failure: 3.5 yr
Median mileage: 25,000 n=200
Crash / fire / tow: 35.5% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

System

0y2y4y6y8y10y12y14y

Air bags

64 reports · 35,000 mi

4.3 yr

70.3%

Service brakes

29 reports · 21,619 mi

2.5 yr

44.8%

Seat belts

26 reports · 36,267 mi

4.1 yr

42.3%

Other

24 reports · 25,000 mi

2.9 yr

16.7%

Speed control

22 reports · 13,000 mi

2.5 yr

45.5%

Steering

22 reports · 25,000 mi

4.0 yr

22.7%

Power train

22 reports · 54,500 mi

4.2 yr

9.1%

Structure

15 reports · 8,700 mi

3.4 yr

33.3%

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

20V024000 2020-01-17

Air bags: air bag/restraint control module

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon, and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles. During certain crashes, the air bag electronic control unit (ECU) may malfunction, possibly disabling the deployment of the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners.

In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may increase the risk of injury.

In owners’ own words

Other 10 mi 1 mo in service crash / fire / tow

HEAD RESTRAINT/HEADREST IS SO EXTREMELY PAINFUL THAT IT HAS TO BE REMOVED OR REVERSED TO SAFELY DRIVE THE CAR.

Other 1,876 mi 5 mo in service

SUNROOF GLASS EXPLODED WITH A LOUD NOISE LIKE A GUNSHOT WHILE DRIVING DOWN INTERSTATE AT 75MPH. IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THERE IS A FLAW IN THE GLASS AND THAT THIS DID NOT RESULT FROM TRAFFIC DEBRIS (NO OVERPASS NEAR)

Other mileage not reported 1.1 yr in service

THE NAVIGATION/ BACK UP SCREEN IS NOT VISIBLE WITH POLARIZED SUNGLASSES EXCEPT BY TILTING ONES HEAD AT A 45 DEGREE ANGLE. MANUFACTURERS RESPONSE IS " HAVE SUBMITTED THE INFORMATION TO TOYOTA AND HAVE HEARD BACK THAT THIS CONDITION IS A KNOWN CONCERN WITH POLARIZED SUNGLASSES AS IT HAS BEEN SEEN BY OTHERS AS WELL. THE CONCLUSION IS THAT THE POLARIZATION IN THE GLASSES CAUSES THIS EFFECT AND IT IS NOT A DEFECT IN THE PRODUCTS NAVIGATION SCREEN"

Speed control 3,000 mi 1 mo in service

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA COROLLA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO ACCELERATE. THE VEHICLE'S SPEEDOMETER FAILED TO INDICATE THE ACCURATE SPEED OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER WHERE THE FAILURE WAS UNABLE TO BE DETERMINED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER HAD NOT BEEN MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3,000.

Other Corolla model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.